TEACHERS and school staff in Wales are subjected to more than 1,500 verbal and physical attacks by pupils every year, according to figures.

Research by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) Cymru also found that there is an average of eight assaults per day.

The statistics, which cover the last three academic years, were gathered after the organisation submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to all 22 local authorities in the country.

A total of 17 counties responded to the request while five – including Caerphilly County Borough Council – failed to provide figures.

Monmouthshire proved to have the highest number of incidents in Gwent with 261 over three years, of which 181 were verbal attacks and 80 physical.

The highest number of physical attacks in the region took place in Newport over the same period.

In total, 97 per cent of incidents at city schools were physical in nature attacks - 211 in all – while there were five recorded verbal attacks.

Figures from Torfaen show that 211 pupils were excluded from school for acts of physical violence, while no data was provided for verbal attacks.

The only records for Blaenau Gwent show that there were 137 physical assaults.

The “alarming” figures, released today, should prompt consideration by the Welsh Government, says NUT Wales Secretary, David Evans.

“Clearly any incidents of physical or verbal assault by pupils towards teachers or any members of the school staff are unacceptable,” said Mr Evans.

“The details of the FOI do not cover the severity of these assaults, but of course we can only assume that they were notable enough to warrant school staff to feel the need to report them.

“No teacher should feel unsafe or threatened within their working environment. That impacts on the individual teachers and of course their ability to deliver high quality education to the rest of the class.

"A disruption in class, or in the school, due to physical or verbal assault by a pupil is not conducive to a positive education environment.

The inconsistency of council’s recording such figures was also brought into question by Mr Evans.

He said: “What these figures also show is that how different local authorities report these incidents varies widely.

“Some of the numbers are noticeable different when they shouldn’t be and so it does beg the question why there isn’t a more standard approach to monitoring which would help in terms of putting in place policies and training to reduce the impact it may have."

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Any form of violence or abuse against staff in our schools is unacceptable.  We want our schools to be safe, welcoming environments where teachers can get on with their jobs, helping pupils achieve the best they can.

“Schools are required in law to have a written behaviour policy which should set explicit standards of behaviour. The policy should be developed and put into effect by everyone in the school.”